Migrant advocates are calling Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox's ruling to deny illegal immigrants a Michigan driver's license an ill-conceived move that in the long run will cause more problems than it solves.

"You have to love the timing," said Martha Gonzalez-Cortes, director of the Michigan Department of Human Services Office of Migrant Affairs, who noted the announcement was made during the holidays. "But people aren't just going to get up and leave the state and country. They're still going to keep on driving."

Cox's Thursday ruling reverses a practice that has come under increasing scrutiny since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Michigan was one of eight states to allow undocumented immigrants to get driver's licenses. Attorney general opinions are legally binding on state agencies and officers unless reversed by the courts.

At least three states have outlawed the practice in recent years as a way to crack down on illegal immigrants and keep licenses out of the hands of would-be terrorists.

"Cox's ruling is right-on," said state Rep. Dave Agema, R-Rockford, who introduced a bill last summer to prohibit illegal immigrants from obtaining licenses. His bill has not received a hearing in the Democratic-controlled House.

"We have to make our driver's licenses secure. Currently, they are not," Agema said, adding the proof of residency required to get a license easily can be forged.

"This should have been done the year after 9/11, not now," he said.

Agema also wondered if illegal immigrants have used licenses to register to vote. Only U.S. citizens have the right to vote in federal, state and local elections.

"Nobody checks for fraud. It's kinda scary," he said.

The opinion is effective immediately, but it is not known when it will be enforced or what it means for illegal immigrants with currently valid licenses.

State agricultural officials estimate up to 80,000 migrant farm workers come to Michigan each year to pick crops and work in canning factories. Thousands of those workers are believed to be living and working illegally in the U.S.

Some farm worker advocates believe Cox's ruling could have dire consequences and cost Michigan farmers millions of dollars because their crops won't be picked.

"I think it's going to be really bad," said Juanita Estrada, chairwoman of the West Michigan Migrant Resource Council based in Oceana County. "They've tried this in other states, like Georgia, and the farmers couldn't find anyone to pick their crops."

Gonzalez-Cortes said Secretary of State offices in Michigan have not trained employees on how to evaluate complicated immigration documents. There are more than two dozen different kinds of green cards, including those for refugees, who don't yet have a Social Security number and whose legal status is often in limbo for several years.

"You're asking an agency to assume responsibility over very complicated laws with no training," said Gonzales-Cortes. "It's going to be a nightmare."

A spokesman for Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land this week said Cox's ruling will help Land's office better comply with the federal Real ID Act, a law to make driver's licenses more secure and keep them out of the hands of would-be terrorists.

"How is that going to help?" Estrada asked. "At least with a driver's license you know who these people are. Now you'll have all these people out there with no ID."

Estrada and Gonzalez-Cortes said more efforts have been made by U.S. politicians to harass illegal immigrants than American employers who break the law by helping them cross the border, employing them and oftentimes discriminating against them.

Cox's ruling will likely encourage more people to take advantage of immigrants by trying to sell them fake licenses and other documents, Estrada and Gonzalez-Cortes said.

Michigan law prohibits the Secretary of State from issuing a driver's license to a nonresident. Cox, a Republican, said this week that it would be inconsistent with federal law to regard an illegal immigrant as a permanent resident in Michigan.

His ruling was requested by state Rep. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, and could boost momentum for legislation pushed by Land to create a new driver's license and state ID card.

Only those who are state residents and legally in the U.S. could get the new standard license.

Cox's opinion overrules a 1995 opinion by former Democratic Attorney General Frank Kelley. Kelley suggested that denying a driver's license to an illegal immigrant might violate the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause, according to Cox.